Income Tax Officials Caught Red-Handed by CBI While Accepting Bribe Worth Rs 2 lakh

The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested three officers of the Income Tax Department on Wednesday for taking a Rs 2 lakh bribe in exchange for releasing a seized amount of Rs 13 lakh. These three officers include an Assistant Director (IRS), Income Tax (Investigation), an Inspector and a Multi-Tasking Staff in Patna, Bihar.

The investigation started after CBI received a complaint on July 15, 2025, that income tax officers are demanding bribes. As per CBI, the three were demanding Rs 2 lakh in exchange for releasing a previously seized amount worth Rs 13 lakh and for not initiating any further inquiry or investigation against the complainant. As per the complainant, Rs 13 lakh was seized from his brother at the airport, and the same was notified to the Income Tax Department.

The CBI made a strategic plan to catch the accused and set up a trap. CBI caught the officials red-handed while they were accepting the bribe amount in a lane behind the Patna High Court. During the operation, the agency recovered Rs 2 lakh in bribe money, which was taken on the instructions of an IRS officer.

The accused are being identified as Aditya Saurabh (IRS) Assistant Director, Manish Kumar Pankaj, an Income Tax Inspector, and Shubham Raj, a multi-tasking staffer, in the Income Tax department in Patna. These accused were presented before the CBI special Court, which remanded them to CBI custody for three days.

The CBI also carried out searches at 3 different locations associated with the accused in Patna on 15th July 2025. The investigation is still ongoing.